The Reality Dysfunction - Unscripted/Unsilenced

#99 - Dr. Vanessa Bustamante

In this episode of The Reality Dysfunction we talk with Dr. Vanessa Bustamante the Vice Chair of El Partido Nacional de la Raza Unida about her life and activism on behalf of the Xicana/o/x community. About growing up a first generation Xicana in Southern Califas, the educational struggles on her way to a Ph.D., and why she is proud to call herself a chola.

#98 - Veronica Garcia

In this episode of The Reality Dysfunction we talk with Veronica Garcia the Texas state director for the Partido Nacional de la Raza Unida. We talk about plans for Raza Unida to expand across the country and in the great state of Texas.

#97 - Enrique Cardiel

In this episode of The Reality Dysfuncton we interview Enrique Cardiel a long time Raza Unida Party activist and community organizer in Alburquerque, NM., he recently ran for a state rep position in that state. We talk about his campaign, and the state of Xicana/o/x politics in the United States.

#96 - Human Cicada The poetry of Carlos Cumpian

 

In this episode of The Reality Dysfunction I talk with Chicago based poet Carlos Cumpian who has been writing and publishing poetry from the Windy City for the last 40 years. During our conversation we talk about his latest book Human Cicada and the importance of Xicana/o/x expression. 

 

ORDER THE BOOK HERE

 

#95 - Anarchist politics and the Xicana/o/x movement

Dr. Ernesto Mireles and Alex Yanish discuss the Kristen Williams pamphet "Whither Anarchism" and how anarchist politics, particularly preformative politics have moved into the Xicana/o/x movement mainstream.

 

  

#94 - El Porvenir, Ya! Citlalzazanilli Mexicatl: A Chicano Science Fiction Anthology.

This segment of The Reality Dysfunction is a conversation with Somos en Escritos editors Scott Duncan and Jenny  Irizary and the forthcoming book El Porvenir, Ya! Joining us in the conversation two of the authors Rosa Martha Villareal who is recently retired as an Adjunct Professor at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, California, and the author of several novels including Doctor Magdalena, The Stillness of Love and Exile, and Chronicles of Air and Dreams. She writes a periodic column, Tertulian’s Corner, for Somos en escrito. Also Ernesto Hogan who is the author of High Aztech, Smoking Mirror Blues, and Cortez on Jupiter. Those novels, along with his short fiction have won him the reputation of being the Father of Chicano Science Fiction. His mother’s maiden name is Garcia, he was born in East L.A. His work has appeared in Amazing Stories, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies, and other magazines and anthologies.

El Porvenir, Ya! Citlalzazanilli Mexicatl: A Chicano Science Fiction Anthology. 
​Established and upcoming Mexican American writers of Science-Fiction and Fantasy come together in one place to offer visions of raza futures and indigenous otherworlds. Included works by Martin Hill Ortiz, Carmen Baca, Frank Lechuga, Lizz Huerta, Kathleen Alcalá, Rosaura Sánchez and Beatrice Pita, Pedro Iniguez, Rosa Martha Villarreal, R. Ch. Garcia, Nicholas Belardes, Ricardo Tavarez, Ernest Hogan, Michelle Robles Wallace, Scott Russell Duncan, Rios de La Luz, and Mario Acevedo.

 

#93 - MX 2070: The Chicano Media Forum

This is one exciting conversation by media professionals from around the country. A review of the most relevant stories and issues of 2021 affecting our community. 

 

Presenters:

Elena Herrada is a Detroit community activist leader, an advocate on issues of immigration, public education, national and international human rights and Director of the Oral History project of Fronteras Norterias organization. She was a member of the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education in Michigan, representing District 2.  Herrada ran for election for an at-large seat of the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education in Michigan.

 

Dr. Jose Flores is cofounder of the Hispanic Center for Western Michigan, the Hispanic Festival, The Community Voice/La Voz Magazine, and La Familia Grocery/Convenience Store.His community activism helped bring needed interpreters to the emergency services units in police/fire/medical care units of Grand Rapids, and he was a chief advocate for providing court interpreters for persons unable to fully understand English. As a community advocate, he led efforts to improve U.S. Decennial Census counts, engage youth in summer employment opportuni ties, and worked on committees to reduce drop-out rates among minority youth.

 

Maria Emilia Martin is an award-winning independent multi-media journalist who currently directs the GraciasVida Center for Media, a nonprofit organization based in Austin, TX and La Antigua, Guatemala devoted to the practice of independent journalism in the public interest (www.graciasvida.org). She is an award-winning public radio journalist for over three decades, Martin developed ground­ breaking programs and series for public radio, including NPR's Latino USA, and Despues de las Guerras: Central America After the Wars and reports regularly for NPR and other media outlets.

 

Miguel Barrientos is the General Manager of El Concilio Hispano Media Group, a Latino Media Agency in Southern Nevada through which he produces a daily Latino Talk Radio and News program, Publisher of Nevada Hispanic Magazine and prepare to produce News and Community programs on local Latino TV and social media from Las Vegas. He has been at the forefront with many great community leaders in Las Vegas, fighting for immigration reform, Civil rights and helping increase Hispanic Voters at the polls.

#92 - Biden‘s failed bid: Immigration and the same old, same old

The failure of immigration policy is a two party failure. How can the Xicana/o/x community stop failing along with them?  

#91 - Heroines and Heroes: Latina/o organizing during the 1980s-1990s HIV/AIDS Epidemic

In this segment of The Reality Dysfunction, Juan Carlos Vega and Alex Lozada take over the mic to talk with Memory Activist, Julián de Mayo about his incredible work documenting the AIDS crisis in the late 80s and early 90s, and specifically the work and stories of the Latina/o Caucus of ACT-UP New York. Julián explains the history of a not so inclusive movement and the efforts to record what has been mostly until now a forgotten chapter of the fight against AIDS. ACT-UP stands for AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power and in order to have Spanish-speaking, Latinx, Latin American, trans, and other non-white voices, the ACT-UP Latina/o Caucus of New York emerged. We explore the relevance and importance that organizing and personal narratives from over 40 years ago bring to not just the current and persistent AIDS crisis among people of color in inner cities across the country but to the discussion on how to reduce health disparities among Latinx and other vulnerable populations.  

 

Related Resources & Articles:

• [ES]tatus: the Latino/a Caucus of ACT UP New York Exhibit video     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5RnPIKGs5o&ab_channel=JuliandeMayo
• Latinos ACT UP: Transnational AIDS Activism in the 1990s: https://nacla.org/article/latinos-act-transnational-aids-activism-1990s 
• Article with photos: https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/intervenxions/silenciomuerte-an-interview-with-julian-de-mayo-on-the-legacy-of-act-ups-latina/o-caucus
• Conversation between Latina/o Caucus member Alfredo Gonzalez and Dr. Jorge Pérez Ávila on Cuba's HIV sanatoriums for NACLA: https://nacla.org/news/2017/11/29/cuba%E2%80%99s-hiv-sanatoriums-prisons-or-public-health-tool 
• Julián’s Soundcloud with some interviews: https://soundcloud.com/julian-de-mayo 
• For more information, contact: demayo.j@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @j_deMayo 

#90 - Que Viva Chuy Negrete!

This week on The Reality Dysfunction, Dr. Ernesto and the crew talk about and remember Xicano super star Jesus "Chuy" Negrete. This LEGEND of the Xicano movement returned to the ancestors this month.  We wanted to take a moment and pay tribute to the man who brought our songs and history to us for over 4 decades. 

 

 CHUY NEGRETE PRESENTE!

#89 - Life after Covid

In this episode of The Reality Dysfunction Dr. Ernesto and crew talk about their vaccines, how and when will the Xicano Latino community go back to work, work expectations, what they plan on doing this summer, and how issues of pay have been impacted by the past year. 

#88 - Jose Oliva and the HEAL Food Alliance fighting for workers rights

This segment of The Reality Dysfunction Dr. Ernesto talks with Jose Oliva of the HEAL Food Alliance based in Chicago, Il. Jose came to the United States, with his parents as a young man, in the 1980s fleeing governmental oppression in his home country of Guatemala. The work he is doing alongside workers in the food industry is vital not just to fairness and equity but to environmental sustainability an often overlooked aspect of workers rights. For more information about HEAL click the link below. 

 

https://healfoodalliance.org/

#87 - Partido Nacional de la Raza Unida 2021: It's time for a party!

In this episode of The Reality Dysfunction Dr. Ernesto speaks with Chair Pro Tem of the La Raza Unida Party Ernesto Ayala and James Ortega a Raza Unida member about the weekly study group, why it is a requirement for membership, and how important it is to develop the organic intellectual side of the Xicana/o/x movement. 

 

Click on the link below to get more information about the weekly study group.  

https://form.jotform.com/202060962074045

#86 - The Fight for Puerto Rican, Latinx, & Queer Studies

 

Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes is Professor of American Culture, Romance Languages and Literatures, and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and received his BA from Harvard (1991) and his MA and Ph.D. from Columbia (1999). He is author of Queer Ricans: Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora (2009), Keywords for Latina/o Studies and of several books of fiction. His most recent book Translocas: The Politics of Puerto Rican Drag and Trans Performance (University of Michigan Press, 2021) is part of the Triangulations: Lesbian/Gay/Queer Theater/Drama/Performance series. Larry performs in drag as Lola von Miramar since 2010, and has appeared in several episodes of the YouTube series Cooking with Drag Queens.  He is the former director of the Latina/o Studies Program at University of Michigan, his grandmother is originally from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and he goes by Larry.

Today, we will discuss why Latinx/o/a, Puerto Rican, and Xicano Studies, as well as Queer and LGBTQ Studies are key to US culture and society, his futuros projects as author, artist, and activist, and Larry's new appointment (starting in July 2021) as Chair of the Department of American Culture at UofM-and why this is important in the fight to maintain and nurture Ethnic Studies across the USA.

https://lsa.umich.edu/rll/people/faculty/lawrlafo.html

https://lsa.umich.edu/ac/news-events/all-news/search-news/prof--lawrence-la-fountain-stokes-appointed-as-american-culture-.html    

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lawrlafo/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_La_Fountain-Stokes

https://www.press.umich.edu/11314788/translocas (30% discount code: UMS21)

https://www.press.umich.edu/flyers/9780472074273.pdf

#85 -This is what we talk about when no one is listening.

In this episode of The Reality Dysfunction we trashed the political, and just talked about clothes, belt buckles, health and tattoos. In case anyone was wondering this is what we say to each other before the tape starts rolling. 

#84 - Lori Lizarraga, Channel 9 in Denver and the fight for brown stories in the pitch room

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week we're back with a conversation on media, Latina reporters and how important it is to fight for responsible brown voices in our mass media. 

On March 27 of this year Lizarraga published a piece about her two year's working as a reporter at Denver's Channel 9 (an NBS affiliate) . The opinion piece, which unfortunately is more likely the rule to the exception starts like this, "It was during my second week as a new reporter in Denver that I remember first feeling concerned about discrimination in my newsroom." In this episode Dr. Ernesto and Alex Lozada talk with Lori about her experiences at Channel 9 and what has happened since then. You can read Lizarraga's opinion piece at the link below. 

https://www.westword.com/news/9news-latina-reporter-kusa-media-discrimination-diversity-11925702

 

Update on this situation

"The fallout continues from former 9News reporter Lori Lizarraga's essay detailing the exit of three Latinx reporters from the station in a year — including her. Now, following a federal filing from a major investor in TEGNA, 9News's parent company, alleging "a broad pattern of bias and racially-insensitive behavior" at its outlets, TEGNA has issued guidance to news directors telling them to stop using the term "illegal immigrants" in their reporting."

https://www.westword.com/news/9news-denver-tegna-illegal-immigrants-latinx-bias-update-11946253

 

#83 -Tales from Aztlantis - Kurly Tlapayawa and Ruben Arellano

 

In this segment of The Reality Dysfunction Dr. Ernesto talks with Mexica internet sensation Kurly Tlapoyawa and Dr. Ruben Arellano about their new podcast Tales from Aztlantis where they talk about their own experiences within the contemporary Mexica movement, and the need to question "tradition." 

They're smart, they're skeptical, they know what they are talking about, and they are down for their people. Please listen in to this very interesting conversation and definitely check out Tales from Aztlantis. 

#82 - Aztlan Report 2021

 

Greetings Dysfunctionals, we're back with a special episode of The Reality Dysfunction. Today we have the first every Aztlan Report, a state of the Xicana/o/x union presentation from Xicana/o/x organizations around the country. This recording was made on March 31, 2021, an originally ran live on Facebook. This presentation was sponsored by Mexicanos 2070, Partido Nacional de la Raza Unida, La Mesa Brown Berets, Union del Barrio, Centro Community Service Organization/Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Servicios de la Raza and other community organizations. This presentation brought organizations throughout Aztlan and the diaspora together to report on the state of the nation, the state of resistance and as a call for unity. 

Speakers in order of appearance: 

Tonatzin Alfaro Maiz - Moderator

Dr. Vanessa Bustamante (5:36) - La Raza Unida Party

Maria Zavala Paredes (8:54) - La Raza Unida Party

Rafael Avitia (16:10) - La Mesa Brown Berets

Scott Russel Duncan Fernandez (21:05) - Mexicanos 2070

Ernesto Mireles (24:01) - Mexicanos 2070 

Matt Sedillo (26:52) - Poet

Marisol Marquez (33:20) - Centro Community Service Organization/Freedom Road Socialist Organization

Lupe Carrasco Cardona (38:46) - Union Del Barrio/ Ethnic Studies

Patrick McKenna (50:10) - Barrio Hollywood, Tucson

Rudy Gonzalez (56:41)- Servicios de la Raza

Tanya Villalobos (1:01:00) - LRUP Youth Representative

Vanessa Mazon (1:08:04) - Poet

Ernesto Ayala (1:11:27) - La Raza Unida Party Chair Pro Tem

 

#81- Among other things, Fuck Rush Limbaugh

This episode of The Reality Dysfunction is actually the second half of the How Do We Get Power discussion. But lets face it, Francisco Lopez's logic and passion won the day. So, the second half the conversation dealt with how the crew felt about Limbaugh's death (take a wild guess) and how the white trash hate mongering industry that walking piece of shit helped create has impacted the Xicano Latino community. 

#80 - How do we get power?

In this episode of The Reality Dysfunction the Dysfunctionals get jiggy with the question of how do we get power?  They also get a little jiggy with each other over the issue of immigration and how Xicana/o/x's should pick the top political issues facing the Xicano Latino community. It is an interesting discussion.